An Introduction to the Community Reinvestment Act
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), enacted by Congress in 1977, has served as a pillar of community development by encouraging depository banking institutions to provide capital and financial services to low-income communities in which they operate. The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco is committed to facilitating the availability of financial services and capital, consistent with safe and sound practices, by banks through training, roundtable convenings, and collaboration with community investment partners that maximizes impact in low-income communities. Working not only with banks, but with the network of community development stakeholders, we also seek to advance innovations in the application of the CRA that is adaptive to the evolving nature of banking and the community development field.
New Rule to Revise CRA Regulations
On October 24, 2023, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency jointly issued a final rule to update regulations that implement the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).
National Interagency Community Reinvestment Conference
The National Interagency Community Reinvestment Conference (NICRC) is a biennial event co-hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Institution Corporation, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. NICRC offers CRA examination training as well as best practices in community development shared by experts from around the country.
Publications
Community Development Data Guidebook (pdf, 880 kb)
CRA Collaboratives and the San Joaquin Valley
Working Paper 2013-06 (November 2013)
The Community Reinvestment Act and Small Business Lending in Low- and Moderate-Income Neighborhoods during the Financial Crisis
Working Paper, 2010-05 (October 2010)
Understanding Community Development Needs through the CRA Performance Context
Working Paper, 2014-02 (December 2014)
Resources
Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) is a formal interagency body empowered to prescribe uniform principles, standards, and report forms for the federal examination of financial institutions by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and to make recommendations to promote uniformity in the supervision of financial institutions. The FFIEC website provides detailed information about the regulation and its interpretation and information on CRA examinations, including annually updated lists of distressed or underserved nonmetropolitan middle-income geographies.
Consumer Affairs Letters from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System address significant policy and procedural matters related to the Federal Reserve System’s consumer compliance supervisory responsibilities.